


Mind your Manners

by YanaWia_the_gay



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, F/F, First Kiss, Growing Up Together, Non-Binary Adora, Sweet, Tag (game), Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:48:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28485633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YanaWia_the_gay/pseuds/YanaWia_the_gay
Summary: Playing tag and making memories. Glimmer and Adora’s time over their years growing up as Etherian royalty.
Relationships: Adora/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Comments: 12
Kudos: 29
Collections: Manners AU





	Mind your Manners

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by this [Twitter thread](https://twitter.com/sheyscira/status/1344708826948198401) by Vee. Thanks to [Vee](https://twitter.com/sheyscira) and [Meg](https://twitter.com/the_f1rst_n0el) for the wonderful ideas, I tried to include as many of them as I could!

"This is Prince Adora of Half Moon."

Glimmer's mother introduces the kid, around her age but a head taller. Adora smiles sheepishly and scratches the back of her short cropped blond hair. They are in one of the Bright Moon courtyards, surrounded by both their parents and _so_ many attendants.

"Go on Glimmer," her mother says, placing a hand on her back to push her forward. "Be polite and introduce yourself.

"Hi, I'm Glimmer!" She steps forward and extends her hand like she's been taught to. Adora takes it and gently shakes it. Technically, the handshake should be firmer but no one seems to notice or say anything.

"I'm a princess or whatever, blah blah blah." Glimmer hears her mother sigh behind her. "Want to be friends?"

Adora snorts a small laugh and nods her head. "Yes!"

✦✦✦

Glimmer’s shrieks and laughs as she sprints through the royal gardens of Bright Moon as fast as her tiny legs can take her. Hedges and ornately cut bushes fly past her as she races through the maze of foliage. They are all so much taller than her - but most things are anyway.

“I’m gunna find you!” Adora’s voice calls from somewhere behind her. Glimmer cackles and continues running.

Normally she has princess duties all day, tutors in the evenings, and has to go to bed before long after that. She doesn’t care much for the royal duties and formalities, but the tutoring is fun, especially when it’s with her father. But today is special - Lady Mara and her wife are visiting again from Half Moon and they _always_ bring Adora with them.

And when Adora and Glimmer are together, they _have_ to play tag. At first it started out in the open, running behind trees and ducking past guards. But that quickly evolved to include hide & seek rules and headstarts and a myriad of other special rules that Glimmer and Adora made up. Well, mostly Glimmer.

Ducking left through a hedge row, Glimmer spots a guard on the far side and rushes over. She hides behind their armored legs, standing as still as possible.

“Princess Glimmer, please do not interfere with my job.” It’s Juliet, Glimmer realizes, the captain of the guard.

Glimmer scans the shrubberies. “But,” Glimmer says as she hears rustling behind her and snaps her head in that direction. “If I don’t hide, Adora’s gunna catch me!-”

From the bush, Adora emerges - her hair messy with leaves and her trousers stained with dirt - and leaps at Glimmer. Juliet, who is absolutely no help at all, side steps out of the way to let it happen.

Adora is almost on top of her, arm outstretched and about to tag Glimmer. _Eep!_ Glimmer squeaks before she makes to run off - only she doesn’t feel herself moving. Instead, bright light surrounds her and there’s a crackle of energy. Suddenly she’s on top of the hedges, a dozen feet away from her pursuer.

“Wooooh.” She hears Adora exclaim from below her.

Glimmer nearly falls into the flat topped hedge beneath her but maintains her balance with her hands. “Can’t catch me Adora!”

“Princess Glimmer…” Juliet’s voice sounds like it’s about to ruin her fun, but then she says. “D-Did you just teleport?”

This is a good thing Glimmer realizes as she shifts on the hedge, dislodging a couple of branches. She pushes off with her hands, precariously balancing with only her feet so that she can triumphantly place her hands on her hips, “Yes I did!”

“Wow Glimmer, you’re so cool!” Adora says with a beaming smile.

Glimmer feels her face get warm all of a sudden, but puts on a triumphant smile nonetheless.

“I am going to inform Queen Angella,” Juliet calls out, already beginning to leave the gardens. “Try not to hurt yourselves while I’m gone.” She smiles as she leaves, so Glimmer figures she’s definitely not in trouble.

With that, the two of them are alone - or at least there aren’t any other guards within earshot. Glimmer can still see about half a dozen silver armored figures from where she is on top of the hedge.

“I didn’t know you got powers. Can you do it again?” Adora asks excitedly.

“Let me see.” Glimmer says, momentarily forgetting their game of tag. She scrunches her face together and balls her fists as she thinks about teleporting.

“Hehe, your face looks so silly right now.” Adora is giggling below her.

“Shush your face.” Glimmer says, sticking her tongue out. Adora only giggles more at that but doesn’t make any further comments.

After another long moment of concentrating, Glimmer finally feels the warm light around her and teleports back down to the ground. She doesn’t appear standing up, but in the same slightly hunched over position she was in when she was on the hedge.

Glimmer stumbles forward and is about to fall when Adora grabs a hold of her and steadies Glimmer with her arms.

“You did it.” Adora’s eyes are wide and her mouth is slightly agape, but her words are way softer than they were before.

“Ya…” Glimmer says, staring into Adora’s eyes. She’s surprised to find that they don’t look like the ocean at all - she’s never gotten to see them this close before. Her eyes are more the color of the sky on a mostly cloudy day. Normally, it’s supposed to be rude to stare at another person for so long - or so Glimmer’s etiquette teacher tells her. But since Adora is staring right back, she figures it's probably ok.

They stay that way, Adora’s strong arms holding Glimmer ever so gently, until a voice calls out from beyond the garden. “Glimmah!”

They pull away from each other, giggling and nearly falling over again in laughter. Glimmer puts a single finger to her mouth to shush Adora but neither of them quiet down.

In a very loud whisper, she says, “Come on, before my mom makes us stop!”

They’re game of tag resumes as they race out of the gardens and through the courtyards of the palace. Adora is still ‘it’ despite having had ample opportunities to tag Glimmer when they were still in the gardens. Glimmer likes to think it's because Adora lets her.

✦✦✦

The next time Glimmer sees Adora, it’s a month later and Adora has a sword with her, sheathed across her back. She stands proudly in front of Glimmer, showing off the sword - hands on hips in a pose remarkably similar to Glimmer’s own.

“Wow, you get a sword! That’s so neat!” Glimmer teleports behind Adora and starts poking at the weapon and trying to unsheathe it.

“You have to unbuckle the latch first, silly.” Adora tells her.

Glimmer follows the instruction and pulls out the weapon. It has a golden hilt and the blade shines in the afternoon light of the sun.

“Mom says I’m going to have to carry the Sword of Protection for her when I’m older. This is just a training sword, though.” Adora explains, the proud smirk wavering as she says the last part.

“This is super cool!” Glimmer says, already flourishing the sword and stabbing it at the air. She turns to Adora, handing the sword back. “You’re gunna be so awesome when you grow up.”

Adora flourishes the sword in a practiced solute, bowing at the neck. With a less practiced formality, she says, “Lady Glimmer.”

Glimmer takes a step back and curtsies. “Lord Adora.”

They try to hold their snickers back for as long as possible, maintaining the air of formality - or as close to it as two fourteen year-olds can. Adora is the first to break, giggling to herself as she sheathes her sword.

“I’m glad you’re my friend.” Adora says.

Glimmer smiles brightly at that and throws her arms around Adora’s neck, hugging her tightly. She sighs happily into the embrace when Adora returns it.

“So am I.”

✦✦✦

Several months and half a dozen games of tag later, Glimmer and Adora are on the edge of the Bright Moon palace, near the cliff face and palace walls. When the rules of their games couldn’t get any more complicated, choosing a new location to play always added to the fun.

“Betcha I can teleport up that cliff.” Glimmer says, smirking.

The two of them are at the base of one of the smaller cliffs - it’s only 50-60ft up if Glimmer remembers her tutorials correctly.

“Oh ya?” Adora says, examining the rock face. Her face scrunches up and her eyes narrow like she’s focusing on something. She turns back to Glimmer, “Ya, you got this!

Glimmer concentrates and a moment later teleports halfway up the cliff, landing on a small rocky plateau. On one of the nearby palace walls, a guard startles at her sudden appearance. She pays them no mind as she looks back down at Adora.

“I did it!”

“Good job!” Adora shouts from below. “Now you better start running, cuz I’m coming too.”

Glimmer waits and watches Adora climb up - because there was no way Adora was going to make it up to her quickly. Adora takes a few steps back to set up for a running jump. She reaches a hand behind her and touches the sword, mumbling something under her breath that Glimmer can’t hear.

Then, she takes off in a sprint and _leaps_ at least 10ft in the air catching herself on one of the rocks. Adora keeps climbing, hand over hand, at a rapid pace up to Glimmer.

“Wow, she’s so strong.” Glimmer whispers to herself, almost losing her footing.

Glimmer waits until Adora is almost caught up to say, “Good luck!” before winking and disappearing in a cloud of light and sparkles.

The two of them race up the cliffs, Glimmer teleporting from plateau to plateau and Adora climbing as fast as she can. They decide to go all the way up the cliffs, the full distance to the palace interior after Glimmer wins the first race. The decision was made when Glimmer stopped after the first cliff to receive her congratulations only for Adora to sprint off to the next cliff and begin leaping and climbing up it.

By the time Glimmer reaches the top, she’s huffing and panting and well over the number of teleports she’s used to using during her training with her mother. She ascends the last cliff in one final, exhausted teleport, and sinks to her knees.

“Glad you could make it.”

Glimmer looks up incredulously to see Adora, arms crossed and mouth curled into a smirk from ear to ear. Adora steps closer and taps a gentle finger on Glimmer’s shoulder.

“Guess that means you're it.” Adora says.

“How are you this strong!? Ugh, where’s the scrawny kid I could always outrun?” Glimmer complains with absolutely no annoyance.

She collapses on the ground and rolls onto her back. Adora sits down next to her.

“Haha, it’s all the training.”

“I wish I was that cool,” Glimmer stares up into the sky. It’s overcast and the same color as Adora’s eyes, she realizes.

“Glimmer,” Adora says softly, “You just scaled up a mountain, with like no climbing training. You’re the bravest person I know.”

Glimmer doesn’t even have to look over to see the fond smile on Adora’s face. She hasn’t seen Adora use that smile with anyone else (even if they aren’t together for very long before Adora has to leave). The thought that it might just be for Glimmer warms her face.

“I guess I am pretty cool, ya.” Glimmer sighs, finally turning to look at Adora.

Adora’s eyes are a little wide and, yup, that smile is there. She has definitely been staring at Glimmer the whole time. Maybe it is just for Glimmer.

“Come on, lay down with me.” She says, pulling at Adora’s sleeve.

Adora obliges and lays down next to her. As the day passes and the sun wanes, it’s on the lawn in front of the cliffs that Angella finds them, on their backs and staring at the sky.

✦✦✦

In the decade and a half that has passed, their games of tag became fewer as their responsibilities grew. Training became more intense and classes on royal duties were replaced with the real thing, like right now. Glimmer attends a celebration for the winter solstice, hundreds of guests filing into the grand ballrooms of Bright Moon.

Glimmer knows Adora will be here - she personally wrote the invitations sent to Half Moon. Eventually, she spots her in the crowd, mingling with her mothers and several attendants from Half Moon.

Whenever they see each other now, Glimmer plays a fun game with herself - spotting all the differences in Adora and what’s still the same.

Gone are the beige shirt and trousers of her training clothes. Instead, she wears the white and golds of Halfmoon, an elegant mantle draped over one of her arms, displaying the crescent moon of her house. The true Sword of Protection is sheathed across her back, locked in place for the party, but no less regal. Her posture is different too, Adora holds herself tall and confidently and she’s far more handsome than Glimmer has ever seen her.

Adora catches her looking and returns the gaze, smiling. It's a polite smile, the same careful one Glimmer has crafted over the years - friendly, considerate, but never condescending. But behind it, Glimmer sees a glimpse of the Adora she remembers - the little curl of a smirk at the corner of her mouth, the fond crinkle in her eyes.

But then they're swept apart, dignitaries and generals vying for their attention. Glimmer tries her best to suppress her pout as she listens to several requests for court funds on various projects.

It's a little while later that they find each other. Music has started playing and people are filing downstairs to start dancing. 

"Lady Glimmer of Bright Moon."

Glimmer can hear the fond smirk even before she turns to see Adora. The gold lining on her pants and dress shirt are sparkling almost as brightly as her eyes.

"Lord Adora of Half Moon," Glimmer turns and greets her, her own polite smile long since replaced with the genuine thing.

"Would you care to have this dance?" Adora says, extending a hand to her.

"Certainly."

They're out on the ballroom floor, the 8 inches of separation that etiquette requires is more like 6 or 4 between them. Neither of them mention it. They are swaying and stepping in rhythm, the only true point of contact are their hands, placed palm to palm. Adora’s hand is bigger than she remembers, but no less calloused. _Traded climbing castle walls for swordplay,_ Glimmer thinks.

“Do you remember our time together as children?” Glimmer ventures.

The curl at the ends of Adora’s mouth grows, “Fondly, yes.”

Adora lifts their hands higher and executes a careful spin of Glimmer. Her dress billows out slightly, the purple undertones catching the moonlight that streams through the tall windows. When they return to their former positions, closer than before, the smile on Adora’s face has faded. Now, her mouth hangs slightly apart, and her eyes are wide.

Glimmer continues their conversation to hide her blush from that awed look, “There are days I long for the simplicity of back then.”

Adora’s face has recovered by the time she responds, “There were certainly far less responsibilities back then, I will admit.” She pauses, before carefully saying, “but there are also things I could not do back then that I can now.”

Glimmer humms an agreement as she considers Adora’s words. They definitely have more freedom to see each other now that they’ve grown older. Yet less time to make use of that freedom. Glimmer supposes too, that her powers have grown considerably since she was young - she can do far more than teleport.

Curious, she presses further, “Like what?”

As Glimmer looks up, she realizes that she no longer recognizes the face Adora is making - it is not one she’s seen on her before, that much is certain. Her eyes are a little distant, not quite looking at Glimmer’s but somewhere just below, and her lower lip is pulled in, as if she was biting down on it with her teeth.

Adora glances about the crowd of dancers and their attending audience, eyes shifting like she’s debating something in her head. When her gaze returns to Glimmer, the fond smile has returned.

“Like this.”

Leaning forward, Adora brushes her lips against Glimmer’s in a soft and quick peck. She means to pull away again, likely for posterity, but Glimmer doesn’t let her. She interlocks their hands, still held out to their sides and chases Adora’s lips. They are as warm and soft as they have always looked and Glimmer sighs into them as Adora now kisses her back.

She feels Adora’s other hand slide up her back and press them together. Glimmer hums into those lips as she brings her other hand to Adora’s shoulder. They break their kiss apart only a brief distance, but touch their foreheads together as they sway slowly back and forth.

“You could have done this back then, you know.” Glimmer giggles softly.

The music ends around them and the dancers begin to part, filtering off the ballroom floor. The two of them stay together, locked in their embrace. Glimmer suspects that some are staring - this is definitely not 8 inches apart - but she doesn’t care. Adora and her have always made up their own rules when it’s just the two of them.

**Author's Note:**

> I loved writing this - it was so fun and silly to write them as kids. It also made me fall more in love with Glimmadora as a ship - they're just so cute together. I was trying to keep this to 500-750 words, but y’all gave me too many ideas and I was having too much fun writing.
> 
> I also have so many headcanons for additional things I couldn't include, but I'll mention one here. In MyM, Adora prefers masculine descriptions and titles and since this is still set in a version of Etheria, it is accepted as a facet of her gender expression without question.
> 
> Thanks for reading, let me know what you thought!  
> <3


End file.
